>> this is "bbc world news america." funding of this presentation i de possible by the freemanun tion, and kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's caglected needs. >> planning a vaon escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier than you think. you can find it here in aruba. dsmilies, couples, and fri can all find their escape on the island with warm, sunny days, cooling trade winds, and the crystal blue caribbean sea. nonstop ights are available from most major airports.

more information for your vacation planning is available at aruba.com. >> and now, "bbc world news." laura: this is "bbc world news america." reporting from washington, i am laura trevelyan. the syrian government launchesas new strikes onrn ghouta. the u.n. delays a vote on a cease-fireo stop the bloodshed. a former top aide to the trump o campaign pleads guilty tlying to invesnogators. he iw cooperating with robert mueller's probe into russian meddlingtin the u.s. el. and navigating trouble on the nile. a new dam is creating a major rift, raising the stakes of a conflict over water. >> the reason we are here is to understand and get an explanation why egypt is so

opposed to this dam ethiopia is building way out the nile. welcome to our viewers on public television in america and around the globe. the un security council has delayed a vote on demanding a 30 day humanitarian cease-fire in the diplomatic wrangling comes as there are more airstrikes on the rebel-held area of eastern ghouta. the bbc's middle east editor jeremy bowen starts our coverage. jeremy: this is what happens in eastern ghouta as diplomacy stuttered. the enclave was pounded. 400,000 or so people spent most of the day underground.

s ove them, russian jets with their syrian allre in action, as the russians demanded guarantees that the rebe fighters would respect any truce. in eastern ghouta, men from civil defense risk their lives to rescue civilians. even though the buildings could collapse. the planes could come back. in the dust and confusion, these frchildren were separated om their parents.e rescuers ignored the dangers.e th condemned what it called brutal attacks. diplomacy is supposed to findde words and eds to stop this ntppening. they were rushedo underground hospitals. it is harder to end a war or even a battle wi words, escially when one side in syria, the regime and its allies, believe victory is close.

in syria, military power, the capacity to flict pain and death, sets the pace of events. treating the wnded is one way for humanity to push back. another is to re-create all pockets of normality, kindness, and decency. 11 years old, like most peopleas inrn ghouta, she has been living in a basement. mothers and their children wait and hope. >> it has been two months sincel i went to scnd saw my friends. we are here in the shelter because of the bombing. the rockets and missiles never end. i hope the war will stop so we can go home. jeremy: among children, only teenagers remember peace. the world has failed a generation.

these men waited f a lull in the bombing to bury a r mber of theimily. they ran out of time. in syria, no one can rest in peace. jeremy bowen, bbc news. in washington, d.c., for becoming known for a flurry of news, and today was no exception. first, rick gates, a former senior official in donald trump's presidential campaign, has pled guilty to conspiracy against the united states andti lying to investors. he is cooperating with special counsel robert mueller's investigation into russian interference in the u.s. election. a brief time ago i discussed this all with david catanese, senior politics writer for "us news &orld report." david, how significant is it that rick gates, former deputy chair of the trump campaign, pu chair of the trump inauguration, is cooperating with the special counsel? david: at first glance it is most significant for paul

manafort. this guy was his protége for years and years. ctremember, the innt is based on crimes they are saying were committed previous to theai trump ca involvement. basically, financial scheme to hide millions of dollars ofea their work ovefor russian governments and different foreign entities that they basically sheltered away from the united states. if you are paul manafou are looking, oh, here goes my friend and he is turning on me. what we n't know is what gat knows to t bigger central question -- did the trump campaign collude with russia? laura: on that centr question, gates was close to the trump orbit all the way throug inauguratior the why could he be of such interest to robert mueller? david: he was a top aide, and even after paul manafort resigned, or was fired from the trump campaign in august 2016, rick gates remained on the

campaign all the way through the inaugural. he was on the plane with trump, on the plane with top aides. if you are robert mueller, you want to know what conversations he had with attorney general jeff sessions, who had meeting with the russians, with former natial security advisor michael flynn. he probably heard a lot. he was clo to the president and the top aides and that is what mueller is going to zone on. laura: there are three former trump campaign aides who are cooperating with a specil. coun david:ha absolutely, and is worrisome, but this is like a puzzle. we know the piecesbut we don't know all the pieces robert mueller is dealing with. is the big fish paul manafort? this looks bad for manafort -- he is on an island o ohis own. he p a statement saying he will continue to fight the charges, that he is innocent. but we don't know what else mueller has on the collusion

charge. remember, that is what the special counsel is really about -- did trump and hisers collude with russia? this is anher piece in that puzzle. laura: the president has tweeted a lot, although not specifically on this -- no collusion, this is a witchhunt. but it is unlikely to improve his mood. th news of gates cooperating. wdavit for tomorrow morning and the regular saturday a.m. tweetstorm. he will probably say no collusion at some poin but remember, this may note invoe president. a lot of democrats say he is guilty. it could involve members of his family. who news what trump --ruho knows what knew? but we do ow that jared kushner, the son-in-law, was involved in the meeting with russian operatives. donald trump, jr., was involved. i think they are in mueller's crshairs as well. we always focus on the president. he is saying no collusn, and frankly, it may turn out there is no collusion with the president. but he has fily members who could be in hot water as well.

laura: the fact is you don't get investigatorwith a like robert mueller in which you could face reduced jail time unless you have potentially something to give to his investigation. ssn't that the way these thi rk? david: t absolutely, at is the reason that the more people that are pleading, the more anworried the white hous president trump get. we just don't know who the big fish that mueller could snag . outside what we're looking at and saying it is president trump. all i am saying is this could be to get more evidence in the case against manafort. manafort is still asbig fish. hehe campaign chairman. it may be to get manafort to flip becau he probably knows the most about president trump's interactions, becae he was campaign chairman, the top dog in this race. maybe is is a move to get manafort to flip, but looking at manafort's statement, he is fighting this. i

saying he is going to fight it. laura: david catanese, thank you so much for the explanation. david: absolutely, thank you. laura: now to the continuing fallout of the shooting of the parkland, florida, high school. today president trump defendedta his call for c teachers to be armed w family gathering of conservatives. the bbc news north america editor j sopel has that story. jon: staff and teachers return to the marjory stoneman douglas forinues to gropenation explanations. for some it is about guns,or others it is about mental health and societal breakdown. today a new culprit. pscerson, the deputy sheriff who arrived at the school 90 seconds after the shooting started but for whatever reason didn't ac he is taking a mighty kicking from the president.id prt trump: if that is the case where somebody was outside and traid didn't react

properly under pressure or they were cowards. jon: speaking to conservative activists, the president restated his belief that some teachers should be carrying concealed weapons in schools. president trump: the beauty is it is concealed. nobody would ever see it, unless they needed it. it is concealed! so this crazy man who walked in wouldn't even know who it is. that's good. it's not bad, it's good. and the teacher would have shot the hell out of him before he knew what happened. jon: and in florida, the governor has announced a range of measures to tighten security. al of thiscott: the plan of action is to make massive changes and protect schools. provide significantly more resources for mental health. and to do everything we can to keep guns out of the hands ofg those dealth mental problems or threatening harm to themselves or others. jon: the president has just told a news conference thate well on the way to solving the horrible problem of gun violence.

so f there have only been sketchy proposals and no class of weapon is being banned. well on the way? ngat might be wishful thin jon sopel, bbc news, washington. in other newsa now, vehicle has rammed into the security barrier at the white house but did not breach it. the building was on lockdown and president trump was on the premises at the time. official site the female driver is a known individual, and the incident appeared to be a willful act but y have been linked to mental health issues. nigeria's president says thed suspecdnapping of schoolgirls by boko haram militants is a national disaster. five days after they stormed a school in northeast nigeria, by is still not clear how many students were takehe militants. but it is feared it may be up to 100 girls. parents are increasingly desperate for news, d comparisons are being made with the kiapping of the girls from chibok four years ago. the french government has confirmed that a painting by the

19th-century impressionist agar because has beenound on a bus -- edgar dégasn has beefound on a bus near paris. the work wa stolen from a museum00 in marseille in 29. it is estimated to bear worth a million dollars. the man who exposed the russian doping scandal has given hisat first intenal broadcast interview to the bbc. evidence from the whistleblower dr. grigory rodchenkov on state-sponsored doping sought russia banned from the winter olympics. the llout from the testimony forced him into hiding, and he feared for his life. now livingn the united states, we interviewed dr. rodchenkov from a secret location, where he said that if he had not fled russia, he would be dead. 2 russian athletes at the wi olympics have tested positive for doping. this exclusive report is by our sports editor dan roan. dan: it is one of sport's greatest scandals. russian cheating reached its height at the last wininr games ochi.st

the mamind, dr. grigory rodchenkov. in 2015, he turned whistleblower, fleeing to the west. ever since, he has been in at the -- hhas been in fbi witness protection. we are on the way to meet him. for more than two years, the net -- man at the heart of the russian doping scandal has been living in hiding somewhe in the united states. finally, he has agreed to eak to us, but such are the security concerns around him that we have not been told that we have to go. after hours on the road, we are taken to a location that we are told has to remain a secret, alongh wdchenkov's new identity. if you had not left russia, ere would you be now? tomb, of.nkov: in a cour dan: you would be dead? >> i would be done, yes. dan: his role in the doping program became the subject of an oscar-nominated film. >> were you the mastermind that

she did the olympics? >> yes. dan: he set the conspiracy went right to the t and that london 2012 was also targeted. what did he say to british athletes whose names were tainted? dr. rodchenkov: i am sorry that your career ography was broken because of this systematic and widespread cheating. that is why i'm sitting here and telling the truth about what erppened. dan: the russian gent says you are lying, you were cheating , it wasn't them, it was you. dr. rodchenkov: russia is a country of lying and denying.n especially sport, you see the situation. 'm honestly saying i give you only truth. dan: does british sport have a problem with cheating, do you think? dr. rodchenkov: [laughs] obviously, yes. i've seen several extremely suspicio cases. dan: despiteussian claims he

is part of a western conspiracy, rodchenkov's information led to a ban from the winteolympics. 168 athletes competed as neutrals, but they are able to -- they may now be allowed to march under the nationth flag at closing ceremony. dr. rodchenkov: this is the most important moment in they hist of international olympic committee, and if flag will be allowed to appeal, it will be the worst decision. olympics could die. dan: only clean russians were meant to be in pyeongchang, but today the second of the athletes failed a drug test, moving forward from sport's biggest crisis is easy task. dan roan, bbc news. laura: you are watching "bbc world news america." still to come tonight's program, with a transgender actress in t leading role, "a fantastic woman" is breaking barriers. now this foreign film is hing to gon home with aoscar.

many of us would like a selfie with a celebrity -- maybe brad pitt or rihanna. but madame tussaud is as close as we will get. now they are trying to follow the lead of the famous attraction. >> i do portrait paintings and sculptures. ye, iif i work on the pull the screen and zoom. it started a while back in some respects when i visited madame tussaud in new york. wow,lized that,

something like that can be done in our country as we. i saw the wax museum and when i come act, i wanted to do something like that. it took me a long time from when i went to manager so until now -- madame tussaud until now. love them all. my mom wanted me to be a doctor. in medical school. i did only one, two months, and i left. until i had my first exhibition in new york. i had my work auctioned in new york. then she said, "this is it, you should do art!" [laughs] we are trying to become the african version of madame

tussaud. laura: all this week, the bbc has been reporting on tensions along the nile river, as ethiopia gets closer to finishing a huge new hydroelectric dam. egypt says it wasn't consulted before building started, and the impact has not been properly assessed. tonight in the last of the reports, a look at what egypt is doing with the water shortage looming. reporter: for thousands of years , civilizaon has flourished here in egypt on the banks of the river nile. 6:30 in the morning, the sun is comi up. it is a stunning way to see this country. the reason we are here is to understand, to get an

explanation as to why it is this damso opposed ethiopia is building way up the nile. these templesnt repre thousands of years of wealth and power, par' of egypt'national identity. any threat to the river, such as a dam upstream, is seen as a threat to its sovereignty. iddecades ago, egypt d the best way to protect its own interests was to build the dam. it regulated the flooding of the nile, generated power, and allowed vast agricultural lands to be irrigated. it certainly helped this man who has been a fisherman on the nile for years. he says his livelihood depends on the river, and he has heard ethiopia wants to control it. >> they say the water won't be affected, but only god knows what could happen. if they dam the river, there will be wars and fightin reporter: and there are even bigger concerns in cairo. egypt relies on the nile for

almost all of its water. but with a fast-growing population, the u.n. predicts water shortages in 2025. egy'is angry about ethiopia' dam. t water is coming to 10egypt roduced by 2%, los acres of land. the family in egypt is about five persons. this mns about one million will be jobless. reporter: exrts say egypt is right to be angry about the dam. building began without consultation in the middle of the arab spring. the downstream impact has not en assessed. building the reservoir to quickly will reduce the river'sw there is suspicion over ntethiopia's inns. >> this is very much a game changer. now for the first time, it is combining the physical power of

being an extreme country in the wahe of another control, and economic power of being able to construct a dam depending on its own domestic resourc reporter: war over water can be oided through strong leadership and diplomacy. it can even be a model of how countries learn to sharereat rivers. but for now it is up to ethiopia, sudan, and egypt to navigate tension on the world' longest rive laura:u if ven't seen it yet, make sure to go to the bbc website to see thee 360-deg video of the nile. it is fabulous. this txt week, hollywood will be rolling out the red carpet for the oscars.e ballots ing cast now, and one of the contenders in the foreign-language film category stars a transgender actress. "a fantastic woman" comes from chile, and it is being hailed as a landmark film.

reporter: set in santiago, marina is the center of "a fantastic woman." her older boyfriend has died. a transgender woman, sh faces hostility from doctors and police. her partner's family reject her. they don't want hl. at the fune she retains her dignity, she holds her ground, she doesn't give in. marina is portrayed by the transgender chilean actress daniela vega, playing a world that woman in happening -- playing a woman in happening a world very dferent from her n. daniela: of course i'm transgender, but my life is completely different. i have the opportunity to study, my family supports me, my friends support me. i have a lot of love around me reporter: ly has "a fantastic woman" earned excellent reviews, but the oscar nominated picture has brought inspiration to the transgender community.

this new york trans activist was impressed. >> to see a trans-identified tiwoman playing a trans-ided character in a movie that took the storyline seriously is groundbreaking. to be able to sit in a movie theater and tch a movie with a trans woman about a trans woman and connect with her right away, yeah. reporter: having a transgender actress play a transgender aracter can bring authenticity. but the film's director certainly doesn't believe that n character always has to be played by a trans actor. >> i think we are free, and mere are no rules in art. that being said, f having done this film with a non-transgender actor or actress would have been like an anachronism, like the old days

of cinema, black people were forbidden to play films, so white people would pay their -- paint their faces. reporter: this oscar-nominated mo woman. portrait of one but it is also a woman that poses a lot of questions. -- a film that poses a lot of questions. >> who is normal? what is normal? kind of bodies can you inhabit? what kind of love you can lead.i in the movie, s of the -- it is a big question. reporter: at the oscars in the foren-language film race, "a " facesic woman tough competition, but prognosticators at one website expected to win. the foreign-language category n be very difficult to predict. laura: a film that is breaking barriers. will he get the xtlden statue week?

we will see. remember, you can find much more on all the day's news at our website. plus, to see what we are working on it anytime, make sure to check out our facebook page and our twitter. i am laura trevelyan.or thanks fatching "world news america." have a great weekend. >> with the bbc news app, our vertical videos are designed to work around your lifestyle, so you can swipe your way through the news of the day and stay up to date with the latest headlines you can trt. download now from selected app stores. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, and kovler fouation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. >> planning a vacation escape that is relaxing, inviting, and exciting is a lot easier t you think. you can find it here in aruba. families, couples, and friends can all find their escape on the island with warm, sunny days, cooling trade winds, and the ystal blue caribbean sea.

nonstop flights are available from most major airports. more information for your vacation planning is ale at aruba.com. >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.

captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc uf >> woo good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: >> when we declare our schools to be gun-free zones, it just puts our students in far more danger. >> woodruff: president trump keeps up the argument for arming teachers, as florida's republican governor breaks with e n.r.a. by calling for raising to 21 the age to buy a gun.th , a guilty plea. a former top trump campaign aide admits to conspiracy and false statements. and it's friday. david brooks and ruth marcus arz here to anthis moment in the gun debate, and the latest in the russia probe. plus, a new drama explores the events leading up to the september 11 attacks, and the